Preview: Islanders at Blue Jackets

ISLANDERS (11-10-5) at BLUE JACKETS (16-5-4)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV

Islanders team scope

The New York Islanders are 5-0-1 in their past six games and are likely to have forward Ryan Strome available after illness kept him out of their 3-2 home win against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. However, coach Jack Capuano didn't commit to dressing Strome, who has two goals and six points in 23 games. "He feels a little bit better," Capuano said after the optional morning skate. "We'll figure out the forward situation. I like the way our [defense] played [against St. Louis], so I don't foresee any changes on the back end as far as that goes." Strome would replace rookie Anthony Beauvillier in the lineup. The Islanders were not called for a penalty against the Blues and have killed 20 straight opposition power plays in their past nine games. Defenseman Thomas Hickey knows they have to play smart against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have the NHL's top-ranked power play (24.6 percent). "Stick penalties, offensive zone penalties, are just killers against a team on a tough back-to-back," Hickey said. "The ball should be in our court coming in rested. You can't afford to take those penalties in any game, but especially when another team is coming off a back-to-back, so we have to be smart."

Blue Jackets team scope

The Blue Jackets will try for their sixth consecutive win, but for the second straight night, they'll be without captain Nick Foligno because of illness. Foligno also missed the 4-1 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday; emergency call-up Oliver Bjorkstrand took his place. Though Columbus is on a 10-1-2 roll and has the NHL's second-best winning percentage (.720), behind only the Montreal Canadiens (.722), coach John Tortorella is not happy with their recent play. "We don't have enough in our game right now, and this has gone on for a little bit," he said after the win in Detroit. "We have to have a little bit more grind and a little bit more simplicity in our game." He credited goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (32 saves) for the win. Bobrovsky is expected to start.

Islanders projected lineup

Brock Nelson -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Shane Prince -- Ryan Strome
Anders Lee -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nikolay Kulemin -- Alan Quine -- Jason Chimera
Nick Leddy -- Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Jaroslav Halak
J-F Berube
Scratched:Thomas Greiss, Scott Mayfield, Anthony Beauvillier
Injured:Adam Pelech (upper body)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Alex Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Boone Jenner -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell -- William Karlsson -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- David Savard
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Scott Harrington
Injured:David Clarkson (back); Nick Foligno (illness)

Status report

Berube will dress as the backup for the 10th straight game. He has yet to play this season with Halak and Greiss ahead of him. Halak will start after Greiss played against St. Louis. Clutterbuck, who could have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1, signed a five-year, $17.5 million contract on Friday. "There's a huge sense of relief," he said. "You can see your future for at least the next half decade. It brings a little bit of calmness to you."

Who's hot

Lee, who scored twice against the Blues, has seven of his eight goals in the past eight games. "It's a combination of going out there and playing relaxed and playing the game I've always have been," he said. Tavares has two goals and two assists in a three-game point streak. … Gagner has three goals and six points in the past two games. Atkinson has five goals and 17 points in his past 13, and Saad has three goals and seven points in his past seven games. Sedlak scored his first NHL goal and had an assist against Detroit.